The Biggest Money-Saving Secret of Them All

With the explosion of coupon and deal sites on the Internet, one might be quick to say that the sure-fire way to saving money is by using coupon codes. After all, you can score percent off, free items, free upgrades, dollars off, and sometimes even stack multiple coupons. These are all great money savers and can help a lot. But there’s something better…

Could it be rebates? These can be sweet, especially when you can pair them with an item on sale or a great coupon code. Apply a rebate to a small dollar off sale price and suddenly Bacardi is cheaper than anything else on the shelf. Awesome, but you can still do better…

Well, then it has to be frequenting Auction, Clearance, and Liquidation sites, right? Used items are green, and of course, wallet-friendly – especially in the case of refurbished products (which can sometimes be even better than new, a topic we will cover in the future). However, there is still an approach that is seldom used…

Belonging to Costco, Sam’s, or another warehouse club? Nope. Organizing a local bulk buying group? Negative. Creative financing? Try again. Getting scientific and running the numbers through a spreadsheet model? Seriously, its much easier than that.

Having any one or combination of these is great. But they can also backfire on you. Sales and “Best Price of the Season” promotions can even *cost* you money.

In the end, the greatest money-saving secret of them all is: Patience.
Ok, you’re underwhelmed – I might just as well have said “common sense,” “unplug your computer,” or “shun society”. But think about it:

As a consumer, do you have a sales quota or numbers to make this month?

Do you personally have shareholders or wall street to please?

Who has the cash in their pocket?

So who needs who in the shopping scenario? Whoever is selling whatever it is you want or can’t live without needs You MUCH more than you need them. Whoever names their price first loses, and retailers name theirs every day.

So don’t reveal your hand just yet. Unless you have a truly immediate need where you absolutely can’t wait, be patient. The marketing engine behind the item you desire will cycle through an endless rotation of offers, clamoring for your business, and the rest will fall into place in your favor.

As you will find out in Dealicacy, not all deals are created equal – not by far. Watching for the one best tailored to you is well worth it. Best of all, patience is always stackable.

One Response to “The Biggest Money-Saving Secret of Them All”

[…] Here’s where the story gets good. When the money was refunded, my Wife and I were at full liberty to find and purchase the replacement PC. We had a list of what we were looking to match, knew that it would be great value, and we we knew our benchmark price-to-beat right down to the stackability options (Fatwallet, coupons, etc.). The perfect deal trap was set, and all we had to do now was be patient and wait. […]